At the Net: Can Errani get even better?

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Sara Errani enjoyed the best season of her
career in 2012, to the point where she was named the WTA's Most Improved
Player.

Can she improve even more in 2013?

Errani is a 25-year-old Italian who is listed at 5 feet, 4 1/2 inches in the
WTA media guide ... but I can guarantee you she checks in lower than that.

The gritty Bologna native is known as one of the fiercest competitors on tour,
and much like the ATP's "David" (as in not Goliath), David Ferrer, Errani gets
it done with some talent, for sure, but mostly with speed, guts and dogged
determination.

Errani's compatriot Roberto Commentucci said, "What makes the difference in
her game are not so much the technical aspects. It is that tiny little thing
that beats in your chest, that makes you feel alive, that speeds up when you
are excited, that jumps in your mouth when the crucial moment has arrived,
that marks the difference between the lion and the coward. The heart."

Errani, who honed her skills at the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in
Florida before moving on to Spain at the age of 16, took the circuit by storm
in 2012, finishing as the No. 6 (career-high) player in the world after
starting the year at an okay No. 45. You need a breakout season to move up 39
spots in the Top 50 ... and that's exactly what she did with THE breakout
season of the year.

Note: Errani finished the previous four years all ranked in the 40s and had
never even cracked the Top 30.

The diminutive star gave Italy a stunning third straight women's finalist at
the French Open this year, this after her charismatic countrywoman Francesca
Schiavone captured Roland Garros in 2010 and lost to China's Li Na in the 2011
finale in the City of Light.

Errani appeared in no less than five finals and captured an impressive four
titles in 2012, with only Roland Garros marking her lone setback in a
championship match (Maria Sharapova). She reached at least the quarterfinals
at three of the four Grand Slams, including a trip into a first-ever U.S. Open
semifinal, with only a Wimbledon (third-round loss) QF escaping her grasp.
Pretty good for a "clay-court specialist" who had never advanced beyond the
third round of a major prior to this year.

The vertically challenged Errani tallied 55 match wins (55-22) all told this
year, including nice ones over 2011 U.S. Open champ Sam Stosur at the season-
ending WTA Championships in Istanbul and eventual world No. 5 left-hander and
fellow breakout star Angelique Kerber in the fourth round at the U.S. Open.

She piled up more than $3.1 million in prize money in 2012, a season she
opened with a new racquet (Babolat instead of Wilson), a heavier and
slightly longer stick that allowed for more pop and better reach. Errani
dubbed the new racquet "Excalibur," which, of course, was the legendary sword
of King Arthur. She and several tennis experts credited the new racquet as the
biggest reason for her improved (and then some) game.

Note: Errani had to pay Wilson $30,000 to get out of her contract with the
iconic American sporting goods company.

Can Errani actually break through with a major title next year? Former world
No. 1 greats Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Martina Hingis, as well
as Mary Pierce and former top-ranked star Ana Ivanovic are the only players to
capture a Slam the year after winning the Most Improved Player award. Although
I don't see Errani on that type of list (talent-wise), she'll certainly have a
shot at winning at the French in the spring.

Trivia: Who was the WTA's Most Improved player last year?

And did I mention that Errani is also currently the world's co-No. 1 doubles
player and was honored just this week along with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci
as the International Tennis Federation's 2012 world doubles champions.

"I'm very happy to have been voted Most Improved Player, and Doubles Team of
the Year too," Errani said. "It has been an incredible year for me -- so many
matches in singles and doubles. It may be an unrepeatable year, but I'll try
to continue like this and give everything I have on the court in every match.
And as for the doubles, I'm very happy to share all these results with my best
friend, Roberta."

Errani and Vinci corralled major titles at the U.S. and French Opens this year
and were the runners-up at the Aussie Open back in January. The 10-year-pro
Errani owns 16 career doubles titles, in addition to six career singles
championships on the WTA.

I'm not gonna say that Errani will capture her first Grand Slam singles title
in 2013, but she will most certainly be in the mix, especially in Paris.